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| Our very cool 3 year old! |
William is 3... I can't believe it. I'll keep saying that phrase for my whole life. I can't believe it. The year has flown by.
William is the best. I don't know that I can sum him up well enough with words. He is genuinely so much fun to be with and the best company. I'm always thinking to myself when he's not around... William would love seeing this, William would get a kick out of that, that would make William laugh, we need to try this with William... He is so interested in everything, he loves to asks questions, he's so thoughtful, he's funny, he listens very well, he sticks close to us, he's so happy and always smiling, loves running around and playing. He's great. I don't want to rush even a second, but I'm so excited to see where he goes.
He cracks me up constantly with the different things that pop into his head. William and I had an ice cream date the other night. As we were driving to Kilwins, William said, "Mommy, you're doing a good job steering." Or when I found him in bed during nap time with Matt's iPad playing Mr. Potato Head and he said, "Mommy, HOW did the iPad get in my bed?!" Or when examining his foot earlier this week and spots a round boo-boo, "Mommy, don't touch. It's a nipple." He pointed out a tear in my sweater last month, I had it mended and today when I wore it he asked if the hole was still there. His memory is amazing! Or when we had one struggle of a day after Christmas and were scootering around the block. William kept scootering into the grass and fake falling then fake crying (it had been a long day). I took the scooter and marched him home. A week later when we went out to scooter around the block he said, "Mommy, I won't scooter into the grass today and say wahh-wahhh." I'm glad you remembered that didn't go over so well last time :)
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| Grace trying to feed William. |
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| William goes along with it! Ha! |
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| William the sweet lover! |
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| I'm not sure he will be a fisherman. Ew that fish. |
He is very in tune and observant. I told him I was going to the doctor's (just an annual physical) and he says, Oh no, are you sick Mommy? Feel better! I'll laugh and he wants to know what I'm laughing at. Grace is crying and why is she crying, he wants to know and will rub her back saying it's okay. He asks so many questions and always ends the question with, "Do you know?" It's so funny the way he says it. "Mommy, what is that boy doing over there? Do you know?" "Mommy, what is that firetruck doing over there? Do you know?" We lost Pinky at Seaworld and I sighed and said oh no... William sensed I was upset and said, "Don't worry, Mommy. We will find Pinky." We did find Pinky! And when we did William said to Grace, "See Grace? Here's Pinky. It's ok."
He's into pretend. Playing monster (he loved Monsters, Inc.) and hiding from the bear that is lurking around the corner (the book Going on a Bear Hunt is a favorite). He wants to fly like Peter Pan and sword fight like a pirate. Loves art and we draw together practically every day. He's actually doing really well! The Mickey Mouse he drew the other day was amazing! He loves when I draw other Mickey Mouse characters too. He laughs and tells me I did a great job. Before Christmas he stayed after school to paint a pottery star ornament and one of the teachers came out to tell me he was the student most into the project.
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| He said he drew me. |
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| Drawing with Wes |
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| "Mickey Mouse" by William Orosz |
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| Deep in concentration painting an ornament. |
He's so kind and patient (a majority of the time). He's happy to share his toys and I've seen him on the playground offer his ball or Lighting McQueen to a stranger. If he's going after something that doesn't belong to us and I ask him to leave it be, he will listen. He's doing very well with manners. At Publix he knows to ask the check out person, "MAY I have a balloon?" Or say, "Thank you" when he receives the balloon. It's "May I get down from the table" or "May I have more milk?" He's great at taking turns and being a big boy helper.
When he sees Grace in distress because her sippy cup is on the counter too high to reach for her, and he'll run and grab it for her and say, "Don't worry, Gracie! Here's your sippy cup. Don't cry." He will find Pink bear for her when she's upset. Or hold her hand and try to get her to walk back to the playroom with her (of which she usually screams and runs because she doesn't want him holding her hand! Ha!). Then on the flip side he can get agitated by her. We were driving home from Disney and she was screaming because she had it. William yells at her, "Grace! Stop talking right now! Mommy is driving and you need to be patient!"
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| Driving by with Daddy |
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| Carousel with Mommy (same carousel I went on as a child) |
Speaking of William and Grace. They get along really well (a majority of the time). Grace is really into whatever William is doing, and is getting much better at not destroying whatever he is doing. She will test the waters and William is quick to reprimand her if he's not a fan of what she's doing. They chase each other and Grace laughs hysterically at him. We were at the bookstore the other day where they have a train table. The two of them sat there moving the trains along the track together, both saying "All aboard!" and it was adorable. She will definitely destroy a block castle if William is building one though. And William will definitely scream at her to: GO AWAY GRACE!
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| Let's race, but first a hug. |
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| Hug time! |
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| Science Center flying a plane together |
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| Grace plopped in his lap to listen to the book |
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| Here's Pinky, Grace. |
He still naps in the afternoon, but it's not surprising if he sneaks out of his bedroom. That is the newest adventure in the past couple months... William the escape artist. He doesn't even call out for me, but creeps around upstairs doing an army crawl looking for me. To pass time he will go into the guest room and turn on all the lights or when he really got into trouble, he took vaseline and painted his floor with a toothbrush. He's very concerned about what I'm doing (or Matt is doing if he's home on the weekends when this happens) and that I'm napping - not downstairs doing something fun. If I'm downstairs, he will sneak down the stairs and find a toy. I'll ask him what's doing and he will say, "Nothing!" He's much more willing to lay down if he knows I'm going to take a nap too. I oblige him most of the time. Sometimes I crack and let him take a nap with me. He falls asleep in a blink and sleeps longer when he takes a nap with me. Naps in general aren't as long nowadays because I think his eyes open a tiny bit and he's immediately wondering what I'm doing and where am I.
The gang is still in bed too. Peter Rabbit, Minnie, Mickey, Pooh, Dog, and Bunny (that's in order of importance). The blankets are also in bed too. Original green blanket, back up green blanket that never tricked William once, gray blanket, airplane blanket (that is also in order of importance). Thankfully when we travel we only bring original green blanket and Peter Rabbit. The others are allowed to stay. He doesn't typically bring anything with us when we are out and about on a regular day. He will sometimes ask if he can bring one along, but he's very understanding if I ask that they stay behind. Another comfort: thumb sucking. He still sucks his thumb when he's about to fall asleep. We were heading home to take a nap and he popped his thumb in his mouth. I hadn't cleaned his hands from our outing, so I said, "Here, quick let me get the germs off." I cleaned his hands and then he said, "Mommy, may I now suck on my thumb?" Haha! That made me laugh. I ask why he sucks on his thumb and he said because he likes it. Simple enough.
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| Out of bed trying to turn off the monitor, which is now unplugged. |
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| A battle I lost. He's sleeping in Mommy's bed. But I do like it. |
He needs a new bed too. He's in a toddler bed and he has gotten so tall that he's end to end. The poor guy needs some room to stretch out. I'm on the hunt for a REAL big boy bed now. He's always mistaken for much older than he is. He doesn't have a real big cheek baby look to him and he's tall, so a lot of people guess that he's turning 4. Don't age him! He's very athletic too. He's very active outside and loves to run, jump, climb. We love going for walks and recently he rides his scooter while we walk. We probably scooter a mile on our walks and he goes the whole way by himself.
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| Jumping for bubbles at Sam's party. |
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| Running from the waves |
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| Giving Minnie a lift on a walk |
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| Having fun at the playground. Sweating he runs so hard. |
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| Sliding fun |
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| Jumping fun |
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| Scootering in his pajamas |
This year he's traveled with me alone and he's so easy. This goes along with he's such a good listener. We went to D.C. and he flies like a champ. Just sat there quietly watching Cars and I sat there reading a book. We walked all the monuments and went to the zoo. He just runs nearby and has a blast. We go out to eat all the time and he's great company. We've been doing our party of 3 outings since Grace was born. We'd go to First Watch for pancakes and Grace would just sleep next to us. Now Grace has joined the party and William doesn't mind sharing his pancake with her. A lunch time favorite is Shake Shack. He loves the Shack Burger and we share fries. Breakfast at Dunkin is another one of our favorites. He could order for himself. He asks for the wakeup wrap and then takes a sample donut from the counter to eat before heading to the booth.
Speaking of being self sufficient, he's potty trained and in the mornings he will take his diaper off, throw it away, take his pajama bottoms off, put on underwear and shorts. He can put on velcro shoes and has been putting his Crocs on since he was very little - probably 1.5 years old. He is always telling me he wants to do it himself. He takes a cup and fills it with water from the fridge by himself. He goes to the pantry and can open certain snacks by himself. Mr. Independent!
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| Thoughtful at Mt. Vernon |
He has many TV and movie favorites now. He loves Peter Rabbit still, Thomas the Train, Paw Patrol, Peter Pan the MUSICAL (what?! He literally has watched a musical of Peter Pan from the 90s a zillion times), Monsters, Inc., Bugs Life, Curious George, Finding Nemo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (he cracks me up when he will randomly call out "Ooooh, Tootles!"). Living in Mickey land means William has a lot of Disney exposure and he loves to see Winnie the Pooh, Mickey and Minnie.
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| Hugs for Minnie |
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| Hugs for Mickey |
He talks about his friends and told me the other day his best friends are Davis and Lola from school. He's really gotten into his friends over the past year and asks when his friends can come play. We will be out and about and he's spotted friends from afar and will yell, Look Mommy! It's Mason! He ran up to his friend Natalie the other day waving and saying, Hi Natalie! It's very sweet to see the new friendships! He even asks about his long distance friends wondering what they're doing.
William is the sweetest boy and is affectionate and caring. He will come over and ask to give me a hug or kiss for no reason at all other than he loves me. He's big at night time asking for a kiss on the cheek, a kiss on the lips and a hug. He wants a hug from Mommy AND Daddy no matter who is putting him to bed. He is definitely happiest when Mommy and Daddy are both home. If Matt isn't home he's worried about when he will finally get home from work. Always hoping Daddy will wake him up from his nap. He gives his love to Grace too. He kisses Grace on her forehead before bed and is always giving her a hug. He will randomly give her a kiss too when he's feeling the love!
What a great year it has been! Like the last two, what a difference a year makes. It's amazing what changes happen throughout the year. I wish I could stop time now. I love that we can have conversations and he remembers his day, but I also love that a majority of experiences and sights are still brand new to him. He's curious and amazed by it all. I'm looking forward to the year ahead and the many more new experiences to come for William!
We love you, William! Happy 3rd birthday to you!
